Will CAA conference schedule be 19 games? 12 home/away divisional games and 7 cross divisional games? But Howard is not joining until 2023. So with 13 teams there may not be divisions.

North seems to be the tougher division. Each game would be a dogfight. South would be top heavy with UNCW and Charleston leading. The three HBCUs won’t be big threat in Basketball initially. But with proper funding they can be really good, especially Howard and Hampton who both have lots of money. I think that’s what CAA is hoping that these cream of the HBCUs will elevate themselves against superior CAA competition instead having to play yearly against Coppin st. and UMES etc. CAA teams’ average athletics budget is nearly three times that of MEAC teams. Coppin st. and UMES etc. couldn’t afford to spend higher. But Howard and Hampton can easily match CAA spending. I bet those discussions took place before inviting them. A&T may not be as rich as the two HUs, but they are much better financially than rest of HBCUs. And already spend much higher.

(04-28-2022 03:58 AM)ibby10 Wrote:  Will CAA conference schedule be 19 games? 12 home/away divisional games and 7 cross divisional games? But Howard is not joining until 2023. So with 13 teams there may not be divisions.

North seems to be the tougher division. Each game would be a dogfight. South would be top heavy with UNCW and Charleston leading. The three HBCUs won’t be big threat in Basketball initially. But with proper funding they can be really good, especially Howard and Hampton who both have lots of money. I think that’s what CAA is hoping that these cream of the HBCUs will elevate themselves against superior CAA competition instead having to play yearly against Coppin st. and UMES etc. CAA teams’ average athletics budget is nearly three times that of MEAC teams. Coppin st. and UMES etc. couldn’t afford to spend higher. But Howard and Hampton can easily match CAA spending. I bet those discussions took place before inviting them. A&T may not be as rich as the two HUs, but they are much better financially than rest of HBCUs. And already spend much higher.

Don't underestimate A&T since they are the largest HBCU and have a huge, loyal fan base. I've been following their BB recruiting and they have some size and talent coming on board. Also, being located in a basketball crazy state like North Carolina, they are going to be good at recruiting. I expect them to compete starting next year in the South.

It actually isn't a bad thing to have top heavy teams when it comes to NCAA bids. Get some good OOC wins then have two teams run away from the pack and that's your recipe for multiple bids. I predict the CAA will be back to multiple bids within five years.

Oh, and why do you think Howard basketball won't be until 2023? I can see that for football but not for all other sports.

It's hard to tell with transfers and such yet to be finalized, but "dogfight" sure does feel like a great way to describe the North. I think it's going to be the sort of division where anyone can beat anyone on any given night. I don't envision Northeastern having a second straight bottom-feeder season. It's going to be a lot of fun, but also really stressful.

The South is there for the taking for UNCW and Charleston. Elon could be a factor as well, because they're always hanging around. NCA&T could be a factor down the line, but I have a lot of trouble seeing them (or Hampton) contending in 2022-23. Seeing signs of growth for the future is what's going to be important.

(04-28-2022 05:22 AM)82hawk Wrote:  Oh, and why do you think Howard basketball won't be until 2023? I can see that for football but not for all other sports.

I was going by the hbcu gameday article that came out few days ago. But yeah Howard may still come on board for all sports this summer and their football join next year like A&T.

Here is the link to the article: https://hbcugameday.com/2022/04/16/sourc...ce-change/

Until additions are settled (hopefully there) and the timing of additions is settled, its hard to guess what the league will do. I would have to guess 18 is still the targeted number in one way or another.